"Hey... Who's the new guy??"
#1
05-29-2018, 05:17 PM
"Hey... Who's the new guy??"
Hello!!
Yes, yes. I'm the new guy here... or one of them. Figured I would find a forum about them for future advice and conversation, and get the introductions out of the way quick! I just purchased a 2002 Mazda Protege LX with about 136,000 miles on it. A green-ish turquoise, which wouldn't have been my first choice but, it's growing on me.
I'd been searching for a new car for a while after my 2000 Volvo V40 dropped the ball (longer story than I care to get into right now) and I'm happy to have found this one. The pre-purchase buyer's inspection found a handful of things that need work - to be expected from buying used:
- Alternator was testing "low"; really only about 13.5V
- A/C needs to be recharged
- Power steering flush
- Transmission service
- Spark plugs (which I actually just did the other day)
- Oil pan gasket and rear main seal
- Rack and Pinion inner seals starting to leak
- Frost struts and front and back shocks are showing signs of wear - back struts were done not too long ago before I bought it.
- Front brakes at 7mm, back ones at 4mm.
Definitely in better shape than pretty much every other car I've tested. I'll be getting all if not most of this work done this weekend (unfortunately going to be around $2,000 or a little over) to get the car in tip-top shape. I'm new to owning a Mazda but, am super excited about it. Not knowing a TON about cars, I'm curious if anyone here has any particular pieces of advice with this model. The one thing I have noticed while driving it the past few days is that it doesn't seem to have a lot of acceleration power, at least not without putting the pedal down quite a bit - or more than I would expect. It also shifts into the first couple gears with a little more of a "jolt" than I would think. I'm figuring the shifting is because the transmission needs serviced but, the acceleration I'm not sure about. Maybe that's just how this car runs? Also, I'm noticing that when I start the car cold, the idle is up around 2k rpm or a little over which seems a little high but, again, I'm not familiar with this model so, maybe that's just how it is.
Great to be a part of the Mazda community!
Yes, yes. I'm the new guy here... or one of them. Figured I would find a forum about them for future advice and conversation, and get the introductions out of the way quick! I just purchased a 2002 Mazda Protege LX with about 136,000 miles on it. A green-ish turquoise, which wouldn't have been my first choice but, it's growing on me.
I'd been searching for a new car for a while after my 2000 Volvo V40 dropped the ball (longer story than I care to get into right now) and I'm happy to have found this one. The pre-purchase buyer's inspection found a handful of things that need work - to be expected from buying used:- Alternator was testing "low"; really only about 13.5V
- A/C needs to be recharged
- Power steering flush
- Transmission service
- Spark plugs (which I actually just did the other day)
- Oil pan gasket and rear main seal
- Rack and Pinion inner seals starting to leak
- Frost struts and front and back shocks are showing signs of wear - back struts were done not too long ago before I bought it.
- Front brakes at 7mm, back ones at 4mm.
Definitely in better shape than pretty much every other car I've tested. I'll be getting all if not most of this work done this weekend (unfortunately going to be around $2,000 or a little over) to get the car in tip-top shape. I'm new to owning a Mazda but, am super excited about it. Not knowing a TON about cars, I'm curious if anyone here has any particular pieces of advice with this model. The one thing I have noticed while driving it the past few days is that it doesn't seem to have a lot of acceleration power, at least not without putting the pedal down quite a bit - or more than I would expect. It also shifts into the first couple gears with a little more of a "jolt" than I would think. I'm figuring the shifting is because the transmission needs serviced but, the acceleration I'm not sure about. Maybe that's just how this car runs? Also, I'm noticing that when I start the car cold, the idle is up around 2k rpm or a little over which seems a little high but, again, I'm not familiar with this model so, maybe that's just how it is.
Great to be a part of the Mazda community!